What I Learned While I Was Off Twitter This Past Week

I took another tech sabbatical during spring break (April 14-19). It didn’t mean I was totally removed from the digital world – only Twitter, my blog, and a few other feeds that could distract me from being present at home.

Here are a few reflections from my short break:

Learning can happen anytime. The distance I sought from my digital connections did not mean that I wasn’t learning. My mind came back to prior ideas, while I was at mass, raking leaves, and reading the news. In fact, having that extra time to process what I was pondering allowed me to more deeply reflect on these ideas and connect them elsewhere.

We don’t need technology to be distracted. One of my goals over break was to put together my manuscript for my first book. As I reverse outlined chapters in my notebook, my son would ask me questions about random stuff, such as how to play the guitar. I was so deep in thought during this task, that I sometimes did not hear his questions the first or second time. Being present is about what our minds are on, and not necessarily what are fingers are on.

Nylon guitar strings don’t sound as good as steel. I had my old guitar restrung for my son. We tried to play a few chords on it, but they all sounded the same. However, we did find a couple of cool apps on the iPad for tuning the guitar and taking lessons.

Ketchup + Horseradish = Shrimp Cocktail Sauce. Okay, not earth-shattering. The butcher at our local grocery store informed me of this fact, after noticing my prepackaged shrimp plate in my cart. Based on his information, I purchased fresh shrimp from him instead. Would the butcher have been as inclined to give me this advice, had I been checking my phone while shopping? Possibly not.

Prepare for the Unexpected. I had fully intended to put in a new raised garden bed in our yard. Instead, Central Wisconsin got this:

I like being connected. Although it gets easier every time I take a break from my digital connections, I did miss the interactions with my personal learning network. At the same time, taking a break helped me better appreciate everyone on the other end once I returned.

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Author: Matt Renwick

Matt Renwick is an 18-year public educator who began as a 5th and 6th-grade teacher in Rudolph, WI. He now serves as an elementary principal for the Mineral Point Unified School District (http://mineralpointschools.org/). Matt also teaches online graduate courses in curriculum design and instructional leadership for the University of Wisconsin-Superior. He tweets @ReadByExample and writes for ASCD (www.ascd.org) and Lead Literacy (www.leadliteracy.com).
View all posts by Matt Renwick